Dakar

Dakar

Members

A select team of individuals who carry the name and hopes of the Hino brand

Hino Motors has teamed up with Team Sugawara―led by the father-and-son driving duo, Yoshimasa Sugawara, who has a Dakar Rally-record 35 consecutive entries under his belt, and his son Teruhito Sugawara―to enter two HINO500 Series trucks in the Dakar Rally as HINO TEAM SUGAWARA. Team members include navigators and a mechanic leader who have the full confidence of the Sugawaras, as well as Hino employee mechanics who bring to the team their deep expert knowledge that they have developed in their involvement in vehicle development at Hino Motors’ head office, and a crew of expert mechanics chosen from applicants from Hino dealers nationwide. In addition, a dealership in the rally’s host country has set up a truck servicing base for the team to service their trucks. As you can see, the entire Hino group has come together as a team to take on this challenge.

Dakar Rally 2018

Yoshimasa Sugawara

Team director and driver of Car 1
Chairman, Japan Racing Management Co., Ltd.
Born on May 31, 1941 (Otaru, Hokkaido)
After numerous races in Japan and expeditions including a trans-Sahara Desert run, Yoshimasa started in the Paris-Dakar Rally for the first time in 1983 (age 41) in the Motorcycle category. He then raced in the Cars category for seven events, and has been racing HINO500 Series trucks since 1992. He has had six second-place finishes in the Trucks category, and won seven championships in the Under 10-litre Class. He holds the Dakar Rally record for 35 consecutive starts. His records for Most Consecutive Finishes in the Dakar Rally at 20 Finishes were recognized in Guinness World Records 2009, and Most Consecutive Entries in the Dakar Rally at 35 Entries were recognized in Guinness World Records 2018.

Teruhito Sugawara

Driver of Car 2
President, Japan Racing Management Co., Ltd.
Born on July 13, 1972 (Minato-ku, Tokyo)
Teruhito Sugawara, Yoshimasa Sugawara’s second son, first joined the Dakar Rally team in 1998 as a mechanic, and subsequently navigated for his father. During this time, he also gained racing experience in off-road races in Japan, as well as in Rally Mongolia. In 2003, he raced a HINO500 Series truck to a Trucks category win in the Pharaoh Rally in Egypt. He began racing alongside his father in a two-truck lineup in the Dakar Rally in 2005, and won his first championship in the Under 10-litre Class in 2007. His 2018 win was his nineth straight championship in the Class.

Ahito Sakurai

Navigator of Car 1
President, RULE!!MOTO
Born on March 21, 1981( Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa)
Ahito Sakurai has raced in numerous rallies in Japan on motorbikes, and first navigated for Yoshimasa Sugawara in Silk Way Rally 2018, which was his first foray into off-road rally racing outside of Japan. He will be navigating for Yoshimasa again in Dakar Rally 2019.

Katsumi Hamura

Navigator of Car 2
President, Just Speed
Born on September 3,1966 (Koganei-shi, Tokyo)
Hamura has navigated for Yoshimasa Sugawara for a total of 15 times* since he first navigated in the Dakar Rally 1992.
* 1992, 1994-1997, 2005-2010, 2013-2015, and 2018

Seiichi Suzuki

Technical adviser
Japan Racing Management Co., Ltd.
Born on January 30, 1961 (Minato-ku, Tokyo)
Suzuki has participated in a large number of international rallies as both navigator and mechanic.
(22 times in the Dakar Rally, 8 in the Rally Mongolia, twice in the Egypt Pharaoh Rally, once in the Australian Safari, and three times in the Silk Way Rally)

Hideaki Takatori

Mechanic leader
Vehicle Planning & Production Engineering Div., Hino Motors, Ltd.
Born on July 2, 1963 (Uenohara-shi, Yamanashi)
Hideaki Takatori was a mechanic on the team in Dakar Rally 1996 and then in 1997 when Hino finished with a 1-2-3 sweep in the overall Trucks category. He was the team’s mechanic leader in Silk Way Rally 2018.